High-performance computer systems are designed and operated under the assumption that the price paid for such performance is power consumption. The higher the performance, the higher the power consumption. This power penalty has been simply accepted as part of the cost of operating such computer systems. But environmental concerns, the rising cost of operating high-performance computer systems, and constrained power availability at computer installation sites have created a demand for high performance without such a high power premium.
A significant amount of effort by industry and standards groups has resulted in several techniques and standards for managing power within computer systems such as, for example, the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification (ACPI). These techniques have focused on reducing the power consumption of computer systems by powering off or otherwise reducing the power consumption of components of a system that are either not in use or not needed at their maximum performance level at a particular point in time. This approach allows a system to meet peak performance demands when required, but at the same time allows the system to reduce its power consumption when peak performance is not required. Such an approach can lower the overall average power consumption of a system.
But monitoring resource utilization on a high-performance computer system can be a complex task. Because of this complexity, many of the aforementioned power management schemes have been implemented at the operating system level as drivers, or as stand-alone software applications. As a result, many systems that incorporate such power management drivers or applications may suffer a significant reduction in their peak performance levels due to the system overhead associated with executing the power management software. Further, compatibility issues between the operating system and the power management interface provided with the computer system hardware may limit the availability of power management software for a particular system.